Anna
 

Hello everyone,

It's always a little intimidating to post in the unveiling section because there is so much beautiful work on this site. This is a painting of my daughter, I am hoping to use it as a sample and also for competition.

Thank you to everybody that helped me with advice on repairing the hole that was punched in it. I was able to fix it and there is little evidence from the front of the trauma. I am working on a portrait of my son that will hang with this. Hopefully it will not take me another 6 months to finish that one.

Thank you for taking time to view this.
Vianna Szabo

This is very beautiful Vianna! I love the way you captured her character in this piece. The eyes are especially well done. Great job :thumbsup:

Alicia

Thank you, Alicia, she is quite a character. Capturing her personality and youth were a real challenge. I'm not sure if it is easier or more difficult to paint our children. The reason I put this in unveiling instead of critique is because I felt I had finally gotten who Anna is even if it is not technically perfect.

Vianna

This is just beautiful! Congrats on this wonderful portrait.

Vianna,
I like this very much. :thumbsup:

Very nice, Vianna!

Vianna, a very convincing piece; Beautiful rendition of the skin tones, and very nice management of the edges.

Many many compliments on this painting. Even as a private work I am sure it will make a very accomplished portrait for your portfolio.

Ilaria

I like the way she looks so relaxed...the turn in her neck is perfect. And so is the rest of her head. Congratulations.

C.

Well, I couldn't tell you whether or not it is technically perfect. I am sure there are many here who could, but I'm not one of them. Regardless of whether or not it is "perfect", it is magnetic. It just draws you in, it does what a portrait is supposed to do and it does it very well indeed.
This will be a treasure for your daughter and how special that it was painted by her mother.

Alicia

Thank you for the kind words everyone. My daughter read the responses and just beamed. Sure is nice to have kids to do all our painting experiments on.

Vianna

Dear Vianna,

This is a very, very WOW piece. It's both subtle and compelling, and very ethereal. 'Magnetic" is a very appropriate term. This is definitely a competition portrait.

I can hardly wait to see your next post!

Wow, thanks Chris! That means a lot. Diane and I have yet to get together this summer to paint. I want her to see this piece because she paints alla prima. She was telling me about your workshop where you told her to scumble opaque paint to make the flesh tones. I thought that was interesting. I had always read that the shadows must be kept transparent and that white would flatten the shadow. By accident, a couple of years ago, I dry brushed white into a shadow area and found it make the flesh tones more dimensional. I continued to paint that way though I always thought I was doing something wrong. ( I never had oil painting lessons) I'm still puzzled by the "no white in the shadow" rule. This particular painting has many layers of glazing and scumbling and lots of white in the shadow.
Vianna

Vianna,

Her skin looks like porcelain, however you did it, it works beautifully. I'm so glad you were able to repair the puncture, and keep going on this piece. I know I learned from your experience.

Jean

Vianna, this is just gorgeous. I absolutely love the eyes. Stunning.

Gorgeous -- incredible living color in the skintones. Great job!

Vianna,
I'm with Chris on this one...WOW! This is execution on the Grand Master level. Congratulations.

Thank you for the complements. If you could see me through the computer you would find me blushing.

Vianna

Vianna,

I must ditto all above! She is lovely, plus she is a lovely young lady.

I can't wait to see her brother! :thumbsup:

Wow Vianna, so glad you were able to repair this. . . it's just beautiful!

This is very mysterious and haunting - simply beautiful. What a treasure for your daughter.

I was going to reply to this sooner, but did'nt want to use the word 'haunting', but that's exactly what I thought. Kim beat me to it, so now I can say what a beautiful job this is, and yes, haunting.

Vianna,

Just beautiful translucent skintones. She really breathes without it looking anything like a photographic copy.

Exquisitely done.

Hi everbody! This is Anna! You Said very nice things. Thanks!

This is Annna's mom, thank you again for the complements. Kimberly and Jimmie, I like the word haunting. When I started this I just wanted to capture her in her "tween" stage of life. One foot in childhood and heading towards adult at a rapid pace. (eye shadow and teddybears say it all) Maybe I put my own fears and hopes for her in there too.

Vianna

Vianna, this is just beautiful! Wow! I love it.

Alex